CMS Releases IRF and SNF Payment Updates for FY 2013

Late yesterday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2013 payment updates for inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRF) and skilled nursing facility (SNF) settings. Both of these notices set forth payment rates for these settings in Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 and do not make any substantive changes to policies regarding the provision of physical therapy.

The IRF prospective payment system (PPS) update provides a 1.9% increase to the market basket rate for 2013 that results in an overall estimated economic impact of $140 million in increased payments to IRFs during FY 2013. The notice also includes the continued implementation of quality measures for IRF settings. Overall, no IRFs are estimated to experience a net decrease in payments as a result of the updates in this notice.

The SNF PPS update provides a 1.8% increase to the market basket rate for 2013, which results in an overall estimated economic impact of $670 million in increased payments to SNFs during FY 2013. In addition, the rule discusses recent data regarding the implementation of group therapy allocations and the change of therapy OMRA.

The updated payment rates for IRFs and SNFs are effective October 1. Both notices will be published in the Federal Register on August 2. In the coming week, APTA will conduct a full analysis of the notices and provide a summary to members.